www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

David M wrote:That must have been a real thrill for you, Janet. I note that there has been a 'mark and capture' scheme in operation, but all the better that one of these individuals was seen ovipositing.

This is a rare and localised insect and one hopes that it will attract some conservation attention in the near future as it is highly vulnerable.

Yes David - Rhona Goddard is the Wood White Officer & West Mids Regional Officer for Butterfly Conservation and they have been doing a mark and capture. They have joined forces with the Forestry Commission and a lot of habitat work has gone on, and WW butterflies from Bury Ditches which is close by have been introduced to the site.

Goldie M, Andrew555 and Trevor - Thank you it was indeed a thrill as I have never before seen Wood Whites!

Ramble day, so less time for butterfly watching when you're leading a group of walkers! However I did spot this Common Heath, camouflaged as it was against the rocks as we made our way up the hill to the rocky summit There were a lot of bilberries but I searched in vain for Green Hairstreaks.

A cracking sequence of Wood Whites Janet They are one of the more confiding butterfly species when you can get to one of the locations

Have a goodun

Wurzel

As it was rather overcast I decided to try Banky Meadows for moths; I found a Burnet Companion the other day and I hoped to find a Mother Shipton. As soon as I arrived there were five Specklies in a mad circular chase at the start of the track. Once in the meadow I counted 15 Large Skippers and another Specklie as I made my way round. The LS were mostly on the southern side of the meadow where there were legumes growing. Moving on to Stretford Meadows alongside the Carrington Spur I saw a lone Specklie, some alder beetle eggs/larvae/pregnant beetles and in the meadows a further 4 LS, one of which nectared on a wild orchid. A Lacewing moth appeared to be ovipositing but I couldn't find the egg - too scared of the nettles! and a small moth which I could not identify but CallumMac has found it for me: a Grapholita lunulana. Following this I drove to the metrolink station at Sale Water Park and took the tram to St Werbergh's where once again I didn't even have to leave the platform. I counted at least 12 Common Blues including a gorgeous female, several Large Skippers, a Large White who didn't stop for a portrait and a GVW. Also spotted was a Comma caterpillar which froze as I approached and stayed like that apparently forever! A single Harlequin Ladybird larva - but I'm sure there will be more: And finally, back at home, a mint moth

Hi Janet, I think your moth might be Grapholita lunulana - quite a nice record as it's local up north and completely absent in the south! https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/grapholita-lunulana/

That's a very attractive female Common Blue, Janet - there seem to be a lot of blue females this spring, and the variety in markings is endless.

Dave

CallumMac wrote:Hi Janet, I think your moth might be Grapholita lunulana - quite a nice record as it's local up north and completely absent in the south! https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/grapholita-lunulana/

Thank you, Callum - that's definitely the one!

Chris Winnick planned this walk to find Pearls, Small Pearls and Dukes but in the event the extraordinary spell of warm weather had brought everything on so quickly that the Pearls and Dukes had all but finished. However we were able to see the habitat management which has been going on over the past winters and also the cowslip plantings done in February/March this year to encourage the Dukes. We were lucky to see a solitary Duke wondering where all its friends had gone - it looked lonely and was much smaller than I had imagined it to be. The first fritillary I managed to snap looked like a Pearl - I so wanted it to be - but on close examination of the photo later I was disappointed to find that it was a Small Pearl. However, later on a real Pearl was netted and when it was finally released it flew a short distance and then sat stunned on the ground long enough to be photographed before recovering its senses and flying away. There were plenty of Small Pearls - one count was of fifteen and another estimate was of 16 or 17... but they were very elusive. This was my best shot Out on the open ground were several Small Heaths, a few Northern Brown Argus and some Dingy Skippers, some more dingy than others and quite tattered, but this one was in better repair than most There was a multitude of moths and I captured a Clouded Buff and a Silver Y, along with two dragonflies: a broad bodied chaser and a four-spotted chaser and a Mottled Umber Erannis defoliaria caterpillar which CallumMac identified for me. It was a brilliant day and I was thrilled to have seen three more of the ten I missed last year!

Janet - I've just been going back through some of your recent posts. I love the range of pics of things you have seen. I can't work out which I like the most but that Skipper on an Orchid takes some beating.

Great to see a female Large Skipper so early in the season Janet, and yes, your female Common Blue is a nailed-on stunner!

What a range of species from Whitbarrow! Really like your shot of the Northern Brown Argus, in particular. I'm pretty sure your caterpillar is Mottled Umber Erannis defoliaria

That was a lovely female Blue Janet Also loving the Large Skipper on the Orchid Great report from Whitbarrow, mind you I'd have traded in all the other butterflies for a NBA

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Thank you Ernie - I was willing it to choose that orchid!
We seem to have had a lot of Skippers David, but I didn't realise til now that the males were the first to arrive.

They're just out, Wurzel - but apparently don't come much further south than Warton Crag!

Thank you for the ID, Callum - 'defoliaria' sounds like a hazard to plants!

Hi! Janet, some great shots lately, I see you got a Northern Brown I don't know if your interested or not but a Mountain Ringlet has been seen at Grey Knotts Fell in Honister, It's one I've not got yet so I may try for that if Possible. Goldie

Goldie M wrote:Hi! Janet, some great shots lately, I see you got a Northern Brown I don't know if your interested or not but a Mountain Ringlet has been seen at Grey Knotts Fell in Honister, It's one I've not got yet so I may try for that if Possible. Goldie

Thanks, Goldie - I'll have to see if I can fit in a visit to the Honister Youth Hostel! There are not enough days to do everything when the butterflies are calling!

A walk with a friend on the hills surrounding the reservoir yesterday - she is more than happy to learn about butterflies! Although it was not full sun, the Small Heath were much in evidence as we ploughed through the long moor grass. They were the only ones we saw apart from an indeterminate white butterfly in the distance. Today I took the tram to St Werbergh's and walked up the Fallowfield Loop to the stretch that runs by the brook, to see if the Meadow Browns had started to emerge. They have not, and I saw only three Large Skippers although on the way I managed a snap of a Small White. Back on the station platform there were dozens of Six-spot Burnets nectaring, a single male Common Blue and a single, very fresh, female CB.

That's a cracking place to get a cracking shot Janet, whilst waiting at the station

Have a goodun

Wurzel

So I'd heard the Large Heaths were out at Foulshaw Moss and went up there to investigate. I called in at Lancaster Services and bought a takeaway coffee, which was much too hot, so I put it in the cup well of the car intending to drink it on arrival at the Moss. I found I didn't want it just then, so I set out along the boardwalk looking out for the butterflies. They were hyper active with it being so hot and it was difficult to catch one near enough to the boardwalk to photograph. I wandered round twice and saw hundreds of four-spot chasers and blue and red damselflies, and was just about able to see the osprey through the telescope - I was told it was acting as a sunshade for its chicks but the heat haze meant a lot of imagination had to be used. There were a few Large Skippers and a couple of GVWs, and a Common Heath moth I was delighted to catch sight of a reed bunting and was naively surprised to see it quite high in a tree ! although that particular shot didn't turn out too well.
Eventually I managed to get some good shots of the Large Heath as it turned obligingly to catch the light. A lizard ran across the boardwalk and peeped out at me from the safety of a crack and you could tell which were the butterfly hunters because they had their backs to the osprey nest which is currently the main attraction at the Moss (and here is one that was made earlier) Returning to the car some three and a half hours later, I drank the coffee which was still quite hot, having been parked in the full sun!

Great stuff again Janet, loving the four Damselflies shot And Large Heaths, it's definitely the turn of us Southerners to feel some envy

Have a goodun

Wurzel

Well done Janet! you didn't go a cross the road to see the NB then at Latterbarrow Goldie